Lesotho's foreign minister said on Monday he was shocked and offended by US President Donald Trump's comment that no one had heard of the African country, and invited him to visit it, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Trump mentioned Lesotho in his address to the US Congress last night while listing some of the foreign spending he has cut as "horrific waste".
"$8 million to promote LGBT+ in the African country of Lesotho, which no one has heard of", Trump said, drawing laughter in Congress. Lesotho's Foreign Minister, Lejon Mpotjoane, said the remark was "quite offensive".
"I am really shocked that my country can be referred to in this way by the head of state", he told Reuters.
Lesotho - a mountainous country of about 2 million people, bordered on all sides by South Africa - is located at the highest average altitude of any country and is sometimes called the "Heavenly Kingdom", Reuters recalls.
"Lesotho is such a significant and unique country in the world. "I would be happy to invite the president, as well as the rest of the world, to come to Lesotho," Mpotjoane said.
He said that some civil society organizations funded by the US Embassy in Lesotho work to support the LGBT+ community, but the US also provides important funding for sectors such as health and agriculture in the country.